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The 1st Islamic Political Economy International Conference was held on the 12th - 14th December 1994 at the Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang,

Malaysia.The theme of this conference is

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'Islamic Political Economy in Capitalist Globalisation'.

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The Conference was officiated by His Excellency Tun Dato' (Dr) Haji Hamdan Sheikh Tahir, The Governor of the State of Penang. His Excellency proposes in his opening speech the publication of a journal, the formation of a research group - project and to turn the conference into a series and institute it as a USM tradition.

Subsequent to this, the International Project in Islamic Political Economy (IPIPE) group was born.

Another milestone was achieved in 1996, during the 2nd Islamic Political Economy International Conference. Then IPIPE led to the formation of the Islamic Political Economy International Network (ISNET - USM), a Research - Teaching group exploring the emergence of Islam as a world system.

ISNET, led by Associate Professor Mohamad Abdad Mohamad Zain, the founding and current Coordinator, has expanded globally as evident from its linkages and the international participation in the Conference.

Political economy is a critique of capitalism. Capitalism is a materialist doctrine. Similarly, communism and fascism which are responses to western capitalism, are themselves variants of state capitalism.

Political economy, appearing in parallel with capitalism, is the original methodology that integrates sciences into the paradigm of change/social transformation. However, this integrative approach becomes a liability when attempting to retain and expand capitalism political economy.

This results in the need for capitalist expansion to fragment and departmentalise sciences into laboratory sciences, social sciences and ethics/humanities. While there is a theoretical need of specialised areas, the unitary truth (Esa) of Taqwa relations between Creator & Insan must not be sacrificed.

Orientalism represents this fragmented version that dichotomises the Eastern societies from their allegedly superior western counterparts. This idea is exported to the East and non - western territories. Through this idea orientalism legitimises colonial capitalism, its extended version of western imperialism, the heightened capitalist globalisation and the final collapse of Soviet Communist experimentation.

In the process this expanding version of western capitalism attempts to defeat Islam as Ad - Deen. This leads to the marginalisation of Muslim trade and commerce, the physical annihilation of Muslim 'Alims and Islamic practitioners, the fall of Muslim cities and with it Islamic sciences. This results in the rerouting of trade caravans, the fall of Fez, Granada, Melaka, Zaiton, Basra and Baghdad.

The Latin search for El Dorado (of gold/silver) not only destroyed the superior civilisation of the Incas but via the English raids of the Spanish Armada, gold and silver were moved to London. This plunder vitally helped London become not a mercantile city, but a capitalist city. Here, Jewish moneymen are married into English capitalist aristocracy. Such unions lead to the control of European Banking networks that hides its true political character behind the veil of punishing interest imposition.

Natural resources of the African continent are sucked dry and African slavery introduced to America helped to expand what has become a Paper Capitalism of the North and fascist-military capitalism of the South. Racism and race-relations became a vehicle to promote exclusiveness in capitalist ventures. Israel becomes a capitalist project supported by global Anglo-American capitalists to break up the Arab nation.

The Global Reach of Islam is stunted to inward looking Makkah-Madinah sub-orbits under a world system dominated by capitalist orbits of their far reaching multinationals. In the same process Islam as ad - Deen is reduced to social rituals and the boundaries between what is spiritual and what is secular is tightly drawn.

Islamic Political Economy is a critique of capitalism and other materialist doctrines. At the same time, it recognises the continuing emergence of Islam as a world system despite constraints and conflicts.

It proposes a change in the international financial system which is the basis of capitalism as a world system of domination.

It asserts the emergence of transmadina corporations as Muslim multinationals.

It proposes the reintegration of the sciences.

It articulates entrepreneur-artisan industrial relations. It proposes a move away from the materialist doctrine of social pressure - cooker to produce or bust that debases societies and prolongs class contradictions and conflicts.